Hogwarts School of Heartache and Trickery
by Lanasaurus
Summary: Welcome, readers, to the Hogwarts School of Heartache and Trickery, er, I mean Witchcraft and Wizardry... Follow the Marauders, Lily, Marlene, Alice, Mary, Snape and Frank as they deal with matters of the heart, the stress of exams and the dark rumours of war (the Marauders also bear the burden of maintaining their prankster reputations). LE/JP MM/SB Alice/Frank
1. The Hogwarts Express

**Hey guys! **So here's my attempt at a mostly canon tale of the Marauders' fifth, sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts.

Follow James as he tries to finally win Lily's affections. Follow Sirius as he rebels against the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black. Follow Remus through the trials of being a teenage boy, and a werewolf. Follow Peter as he desperately tries to cling to a feeling that he belongs. Lessons, exams, pranks and parties abound, for afterall, Hogwarts is just a normal school.

**I've extended this first chapter**in order to introduce Frank and Snape, please reread!

_Disclaimer: This is J. K. Rowling's world._

* * *

London, Jonathon Thomson observed, truly was a city of cultural diversity. On his morning commute through to the city to his tediously dull job he would see the strangest people, and with much gusto he would later relay details to his wife.

Today was the strangest of days yet. It was a Sunday, and Mr Thomson was travelling home from an early morning shopping trip to buy his young wife an anniversary present.

It was at 10:54 a.m. on September 1st 1975 and Mr Thomson, whilst waiting for his train from platform nine at King's Cross Station, was watching a curious middle aged couple dressed in patterned robes struggle with a ticket barrier at the exit.

He found that their clothing had entirely captured his attention, and it was for this reason that he did not notice the teenage girl with long, fiery red hair barrel straight into him, knocking him off his feet.

"Oh, by Merlin! I am so so so sorry, Sir! I was in an awful rush, didn't quite see you there over my trolley," the girl started spouting out. Mr Thomson awkwardly got back up to his feet, and turned to the girl.

"No, nonsense, my apologies, I wasn't paying the damnedest slight of attention," he started automatically, wondering if the girl really had just cursed 'by _Merlin'_. Then he looked at the trolley which had caused their misfortune.

There was a large brown, leather suitcase on the trolley, albeit a perfectly ordinary object. However, what had given Mr Thomson pause was what was resting atop the suitcase - a large barn owl in a silver cage.

Mr Thomson blushed and coughed to cover his embarrassment. He was unsure why he was so embarrassed by this encounter, but was feeling increasingly uncomfortable around the strange, flustered girl.

Still apologising profusely, she turned back to her trolley and trotted off. Mr Thomson glanced down to brush his trousers off and then glanced quickly back up, to see a flurry of red hair disappear into a wall. He blinked. No, the girl must have simply disappeared _behind_ the wall. Any second now she would reappear. Or maybe she was waiting behind the wall…

At this point Mr Thomson's train pulled into the station. He boarded the train, found a seat, and let out a long sigh.

* * *

Coincidentally, just as Mr Thomson let out his long sigh, Lily Evans also let out a sigh of frustration as she wove through the crowds of parents hanging around to see off their children. She heaved her trunk up onto the train and then more carefully lifted the cage containing her owl, Hermes, up, before jumping aboard herself.

She began walking down the train, glancing into the compartments looking for her friends whilst mentally scolding herself for being so late. She hadn't even reached the end of the first carriage before the train departed the platform.

Eventually Lily found the compartment containing her friends, and slid inside with a huge smile on her face.

The three girls previously inside had been wearing concerned frowns, but with Lily's entrance they immediately jumped up and shrieked with happiness.

Lily Evans was usually a highly organised and punctual individual, traits for which she was in fact rather proud of. Thus she had given her friends quite the cause to worry when she hadn't been milling about on the platform when the three of them – Alice Prewett, Marlene Mckinnon and Mary Macdonald – had each arrived and found each other.

The shortest of the three spoke first, "holy hippogriffs, Lils, you had us worried there!"

Lily laughed, "I'm sorry, Alice, I had myself worried at one moment too!" to which the other three girls each laughed.

"So," Marlene, the tall, blonde one began "how come you're so late?"

Before Lily could respond Mary rolled her pretty brown eyes, "A sickle Petty had something to do with it."

Lily couldn't help but snicker at Mary's nickname for her sister, but then felt immediately guilty. "_Petunia,_" she stressed, "was indeed the perpetrator of my lateness. She conveniently forgot that mum had asked her to bring me today and had taken the car to her boyfriend's house and stayed their last night. Dad had to awkwardly ask the neighbour to bring me, should have seen the sceptical look she gave my luggage…"

The girls all laughed and sat back down. Lily put her luggage away and then went back to the door.

Mary smiled up at her, "Ooh, good luck in your first prefect meeting!"

Lily thanked her, and said a quick bye to the three girls before exiting the compartment and heading back down to the carriages towards the very first one, the prefect's compartment, with a huge grin plastered over her usually reserved face.

This summer, with Lily's booklist she also received a red badge with a golden letter _P_ printed on its glossy surface. She had been absolutely ecstatic, and was so proud of herself.

When she was eleven years old a man dressed in navy robes and turned up at her family's home, in order to deliver a letter to her. That letter had turned her world upside down. Lily Evans was a witch, and Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had a place for her.

Of course, she already mostly believed in magic. Since she was a little girl she could do the most fantastical things with flowers, making them bloom and grow as she desired. It was the strange boy from Spinner's End who had introduced her to this magical world.

However, it was not until the man in the navy robes carrying the letter of thick, yellow parchment with that beautiful script in emerald green ink that she had been fully convinced.

And then five years later, another letter had arrived. No man had delivered this letter though; this letter had been delivered to her bedroom window by a tawny owl. This letter congratulated her, offering her the responsibility of fifth year Gryffindor Prefect.

As such, Lily now found herself taking a deep breath to compose herself before joining her first ever prefect's meeting.

* * *

James Potter, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew were snickering at the rear end of the train. James had his mahogany wand out, and a thoroughly confused first year boy a couple of compartments down from them was getting more and more frustrated with his compartment door. No matter how much he heaved his weight upon it, it just would not slide shut.

Just as the boy, who incidentally was about half the height of James and Sirius, braced himself for one final push with all of his strength, James flicked his wand and the door slid closed. The boy landed in a heap on the floor looking rather affronted, much to the amusement of the other first years sharing his compartment and Peter Pettigrew, who let out a howl of laughter.

The three fifteen year old boys looked up and down the train. Rather, James and Sirius looked up and down the train for their next conquest whilst Peter looked up at them, waiting for them to conceive a plan.

"Shall we go and find the girls whilst waiting for Moony?" Sirius directed the question to James, Peter hardly ever influenced their decisions. James shrugged in assent and Sirius led the way down the train, letting out an 'aha!' when he found their fellow fifth year Gryffindors.

* * *

Marlene was sat against the window with Mary and Alice opposite her, and she was asking them both questions from a quiz out of _Witch Weekly_ which promised to guide you in your quest for love. Some of the questions were downright ridiculous (would you rather be the victim of Amortentia, or be viewed as a hag?) and Alice found herself snorting with laughter quite frequently.

Sirius slid open their compartment door with a smirk. "Knock, knock," he said cheekily to indicate their presence.

Marlene looked up from her magazine with a broad smile on her face. Marlene was classically beautiful. She had straight white teeth, full rosy lips, strong cheekbones, a petite jaw and sparkling blue eyes, long blonde hair and an hourglass figure that was the envy of her dorm mates.

Sirius bounced over to her and collapsed into the seat next to hers, "Looking good this year, Mckinnon."

Opposite them, Mary rolled her eyes. "Marlene has looked _great_ every year, Sirius," she mentioned. Mary loved Marlene, and openly admitted her envy of Marlene's looks. She wasn't unattractive herself at all; she was taller and slimmer than Marlene, with dirty blonde hair that curled just above her shoulders. To Marlene's envy, Mary's skin also glowed with a considerably healthy tan.

James and Peter, still in the doorway, chuckled before following Sirius's lead and sitting down. James sat himself next to Alice, and Peter took the seat closest to the doors by Sirius.

"Hey girls, did you all have a nice sum – wait, where's Evans?" James asked with a frown.

Alice's laugh tinkled pleasantly, "Lils is a prefect now, James. Wasn't it obvious?"

James visibly relaxed, of _course_ it was obvious that Lily Evans, object of his pestering, pranks and heart over the last five years had been made a prefect. She was perfect for the role: rule-abiding, uptight, studious, and an insufferable know-it-all.

But she was also compassionate, helpful, considerate and responsible. James could imagine she would be perfectly in her element as a prefect.

Peter spoke up for the first time now, "Moony's got prefect too! I guess that was also obvious, though I actually thought for a moment that Dumbledore might skip having a fifth year prefect for the Gryffindor boys this year."

"Don't be an idiot, Wormy. Like Dumbledore would throw away hundreds of years' worth of traditions for the sake of us humble Marauders?" Sirius chided with a light punch to Peter's shoulder.

James snorted, and Mary let out a quick laugh.

"To be honest," Alice offered to support Peter, "none of you are really… 'ideal' candidates for the role as prefect, are you?"

James and Sirius pretended to look offended whilst Peter furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Just as well Evans is strict enough for two," James joked, earning a guffaw from Peter.

Mary frowned, "Actually, whilst Remus may get himself caught up in all of your pranks and mischief, he has the least detentions of the four of you, not to mention that he would be top of every class if it wasn't for Lils."

"Hear, hear!" Sirius cheered in acknowledgment of Remus Lupin's suitability as their new prefect.

The teenagers soon fell into comfortable conversation about their summers and their expectations for the following year. This year they would be taking their O.W.L's which would be instrumental to deciding their N.E.W.T options and future careers.

Peter and Alice were extremely nervous: Alice wanted to be an Auror which had one of the most competitive and exclusive training programs; Peter just wasn't the quickest broom in the shed.

* * *

An hour later, Remus Lupin and Lily Evans finished their patrol following a quick debriefing from this year's Head Boy, Ravenclaw's Benjy Fenwick, and Head Girl, Hufflepuff's Emmeline Vance. They found their friends and joined them, to discover that they were all talking about various antics that had happened during Divination over the last two years.

Alice was the only one of the six who did not take Divination, and as such she had been fiddling with her long, dark hair suffering from boredom when Lily and Remus opened the door.

"Oh thank Merlin! If I have to hear another story about James switching someone's teacup with a nose-biting teacup whilst reading tealeaves I'll throw myself from this train!"

James sent a mock glare at Alice and then jumped up to pat Remus on the back, "Moony! I say, if I had known that the way to getting one on one time with Evans was a bit of responsibility, I would have changed years ago!"

Lily glared at him, a faint blush colouring her cheeks, "Potter," she spat, "I have been telling you for _years_ that you need to grow up and learn the definition of maturity!"

"Hmmm," came James' response, "seems to have slipped my mind."

Sirius raised his eyebrows, "come to think of it, I don't once recall Evans telling you to become more responsible." Peter now looked thoroughly confused whilst Lily looked like she could intimidate a hippogriff.

Before she could respond Alice reached up to rest her hand on her arm, which appeared to work. Lily let out a minor strangled sound, and walked across the compartment, budging Marlene over so she could be sat as far away from James as possible.

Mary quickly asked Lily about the other prefects for their year, before James could exasperate her any further.

"Bertram Aubrey and Amelia Bones for Ravenclaw, good choices if you ask me. Celia Bennett and Reginald Cattermole for Hufflepuff, also a sound decision. And Sev is the Slytherin prefect, with Druella Vicci," Lily told them all happily.

"_Snape?!_" came James indignant outburst.

Lily jumped up scowling, her previous attempt to relax short-lived. "Yes, Potter, Sev is a prefect. So you might want to rethink whatever grand plans you have for ambushing him this year," she smirked.

Then she stalked out of the compartment, calling to the girls to follow her. Normally Lily would never dream of ordering them around, but James Potter infuriated her to a point near madness, and besides, they had to change into their uniform and robes soon anyway.

The girls acknowledged this, and didn't hesitate to follow. Well, Mary and Alice didn't hesitate. Marlene glanced at Sirius and James, and sighed before patting Remus on the shoulder on her way past.

Just before she shut the door a voice carried through, "Well, I don't think you're going to seduce her this year, Prongs."

* * *

Lily huffed and led the way down the carriage to find a new compartment.

"Oh," came Alice's soft voice as she peered through a compartment window, "there's Frank."

Marlene and Lily exchanged knowing smiles whilst Mary stole a quick look herself, "hmmm, he's looking dashing as always, Allie. If you don't snap him up quick someone else will."

Lily scolded Mary for her teasing. Alice had the gentlest temper in the world, but she wasn't terribly self-assertive, particularly around Frank Longbottom. He was a sixth year Gryffindor, and a prefect, which all the girls agreed spoke volumes for his character.

Frank could always crack a joke to cheer someone up, but never had anyone heard him make a joke at someone else's expense. _Unlike those Marauders,_ Lily found herself thinking.

Alice had been nursing a crush on him since her third year, when on her way down an icy path to Hogsmeade she had slipped and fell in a rather embarrassing fashion in front of a group of fourth years. Naturally, they had all laughed with the exception of one Frank Longbottom.

He had rushed to her side to offer her a hand up, and had then suggested she walk with him for the rest of the way, for he had found the least hazardous route. He offered her his arm, and a charming smile, and Alice was smitten.

Lily linked her arm through Alice's, "You've got a good eye, Allie. But come on, we have to find a girls only compartment to dress in! I hadn't realised how late it was, we'll be arriving soon!"

As Lily began to get herself flustered, Mary found a compartment. It was only occupied by Amelia Bones and another Ravenclaw girl in their year, perfect to get changed in. The girls all got along well enough, and pleasantly whittled away the last part of their journey in conversation.

Marlene, who had again chosen the window seat, exclaimed with excitement, "Oooh, we're there already! I'm starved…"

Lily and Amelia both jumped up, eager to leave and fulfil their new duties as prefects. The other four girls rolled their eyes, before standing up, stretching, and departing to the train to enter a carriage that would drive itself up to the castle.

* * *

Whilst Lily helped to usher first year students towards the gamekeeper, Hagrid (a giant of a man, and really no ushering was required), a tall, pale boy with greasy, chin length hair watched from the shadows of a carriage.

Severus Snape loved to watch Lily Evans, she brought so much light and goodness to her surroundings, she made Severus feel wanted, and happy. He'd been hoping to spend the train journey with her today. They had spoken briefly at the prefect's meeting before they went on their separate patrols, and Severus had then tried to find her.

When he finally caught a glimpse of her, she'd been with _him_. Her and her Gryffindor friends had all been engaged in an animated conversation, which seemed to focus around none other than James Potter. Severus' lip curled into a scowl as he thought of the boy who had made his life at Hogwarts a living hell.

The Marauders were bullies. Sure, they disguised it well behind their good looks, charming smiles, and top grades, but none of that meant they had to be _nice_. They were forever making jokes at the expense of others, pranking the vulnerable and breaking the school rules.

Even Remus Lupin. Everyone thought that he was a responsible boy, but if he was so responsible, then why were his friends such troublemakers? Besides, Severus knew that there was something downright _weird_ about the boy with the sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes; he just had to figure out exactly what it was.

Severus watched as Lily finally turned towards the carriages and called out her name. Her head snapped to him, her hair fanning out behind her, and with a mad grin on her face, she rushed over to him.

"Hey, Sev! What are you skulking about in the dark for, eh?" she asked, sticking her tongue out to show she was just joking.

He smiled at her, a true smile, and gestured to the carriage, "I thought, since we couldn't ride together on the train, we could at least share a carriage?"

In answer she hopped up onto the carriage, and patted the seat beside her. They were the last students still at the platform, and so the carriage departed immediately, taking them up the winding path leading to Hogwarts castle.

"You know, Sev," Lily's thoughtful voice interrupted their companionable silence as they walked through the castle doors, "I have a good feeling about this year. This year," she emphasised with a grin, "is going to be _great_ for us!"

Severus grinned earnestly back at her, hoping beyond hope that her words were prophetic. Then they went their separate ways: Severus skulked towards his friends at the Slytherin table; Lily bounded towards her friends at the Gryffindor table.

From their separate tables they watched the sorting and enjoyed the welcome feast, and thus began their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

**And** that's the first chapter! Hope you like it, please review!

Next chapter we'll see some lessons and a bit more action!


	2. The First Week

It was 8 a.m. on Monday morning, and James Potter walked back into his dormitory following a rather enjoyable hot shower. Remus was just pinning his prefect's badge to his robes, whilst Peter was routing through his trunk in desperation. Sirius appeared to still be asleep.

"I've tried everything to get him up, he won't budge," Remus muttered with a frown in his sleeping friend's direction. James raised his eyebrows and a sly smile crept on to his face. He reached to his bedside cabinet for his glasses, and once he could see clearly again, he grabbed his wand.

"Everything, eh?" he asked, brandishing his wand. _Levicorpus_, he thought, and with a flick of his wand, a strangled yelp was heard from behind the hangings of Sirius' bed. "Locomotor curtains," he commanded, and Sirius' bed hangings were pulled aside to reveal Sirius in his pyjama bottoms being suspended in the air seemingly by his ankle.

"PRONGS!" he yelled, trying to orientate himself whilst flailing his arms around hopelessly.

Peter abandoned his search of his trunk and collapsed onto his bed in fits of laughter, "oh – oh, haha – that was a good one, Prongs," he wheezed out through chuckles.

Remus rolled his eyes, picked up his wand and concentrated on the counterspell, _Liberacorpus_. Sirius landed in a heap back onto his bed.

"Blimey, what a wake up. Cheers Moony," he muttered, shooting James a glare.

"Just get up now, Padfoot. We're all ready for breakfast," Remus said. Sirius shrugged and rolled off his bed, and sloped towards the bathroom.

James packed his satchel with parchment, quills and ink before idly lounging back on his bed whilst waiting for Sirius. Remus was flicking through _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, _and Peter had resumed his frantic search of his trunk.

"Guys, I can't find my tie… I think I forgot to pack it," Peter said in a small voice.

James rolled his eyes and reached into his trunk for an odd sock, which he lazily transfigured into a red and gold striped tie before levitating it over to Peter. He kept it too high for Peter's reach though, and snickered at his attempt to jump up and get it, fixing him with an expectant sigh.

Peter sighed, "I solemnly swear that I won't lose this one."

James chuckled appreciatively and the tie dropped into Peter's hands. "Thanks, Prongs."

Sirius then re-entered their dormitory, fully dressed, with his shoulder length black hair falling in soft waves behind his ears. With a dramatic flourish of his arm, he appraised his three best friends, "shall we?"

* * *

Marlene was idly sipping at her cup of tea watching with some amusement the way Lily kept twitching and glancing towards the staff table. She was desperate to receive her timetable; no doubt she'd already have a study timetable drawn up by dinner that night too.

Lily was in no state for a normal conversation until they received their timetables, and Mary and Alice were deeply engrossed on their debate between raspberry and blackcurrant jam.

As such, Marlene found herself scanning the great hall, observing how the Prewett brothers appeared to have bulked up a bit over the summer, and that Amos Diggory was now sporting stubble on his jawline. She sighed in boredom, and then glanced up to the doors to see the Marauders amble through.

Marlene caught James' eye and waved over to him, indicating for them to join her. James sat down next to her, with Peter on his other side and Remus sat on the opposite side of the bench next to Lily, with Sirius next to him.

Marlene observed that Sirius still looked rather bleary eyed, "someone oversleep this morning?" she teased, receiving only a grunt in response.

James was, predictably, watching Lily, who was now anxiously tapping her wand against her plate, inadvertently changing its colour. He smirked, "what's got your wand in a knot, Evans?"

She glanced coolly at him, and chose not to answer him. Alice was sat next to Lily and she smiled at James in apology, "she's waiting for her timetable," she informed him.

"Well, Evans, you look like you need to relax. How about tonight, we could meet up, go for a walk-"

"Potter," Lily interrupted with a scowl, "I will _not_ go out with you. I'd rather choke on flobberworms."

Marlene let out a low whistle, "good retort, Lils. I've not heard that one before!"

Alice and Mary let out a nervous laugh and James heard Sirius snigger through a mouthful of bacon.

Before James could retort though, Peter piped up, "Ah, here's McGonagall with our timetables," to which Lily dropped her spoon and eyed the stern Transfiguration professor like a hawk.

"Ughhhhh," Sirius groaned, being the first to receive his, "double History of Magic first thing on a Monday. What sort of crackpot scheduling error is that? No one's ever going to turn up" he grumbled. McGonagall clouted him on the ear, looking rather smug, and then distributed the other timetables before moving down the table.

Lily snatched hers up and eyeballed it intently, committing it to memory as best she could.

"Whoa there, Evans, you might burn a whole in it staring at it so furiously," James joked. Marlene couldn't help but laugh, but Lily continued staring at the timetable, choosing to ignore his remark.

"Wicked! Look Prongs, we've got Friday afternoons free!" Sirius certainly sounded more awake now, with that cheery discovery.

"Awesome, consider that to officially be 'Marauder' time," James responded with a grin.

Remus groaned, "I knew I shouldn't have taken Ancient Runes, that's scheduled for Friday afternoons."

Peter offered him a small smile and Sirius clapped him on the back, "at least you were smart enough to avoid Divination, Moony!"

That comment made everyone around the table laugh, including Lily. They all slowly finished their breakfast before leaving the table; History of Magic was only on the first floor so it would not be a long walk for them, not to mention the fact that Professor Binns did not even notice late arrivals.

Mary MacDonald was the only one who was actually interested in studying History of Magic. As a muggleborn, she found it truly fascinating, and her dad taught History at their local secondary school. Even Lily, who was also a muggleborn, struggled to make comprehensive notes in that class.

After History of Magic the Gryffindors had to ascend to the third floor for their Charms lesson. Professor Flitwick spent the whole single period discussing the impending O.W.L. exam that they would be sitting in in just 10 months, to which Lily paid rapt attention to, whilst James and Sirius sat at the back duelling with fake wands.

In fact, all of their Professors that week drilled into them about recommended revision methods, exam techniques and stress-reducing practices.

* * *

Friday afternoon found the Marauders, with the exception of Remus, collapsed in the squishy red arm chairs around the fireplace. Mary and Marlene were also sat with them, for Lily and Alice were both in Ancient Runes with Remus.

The five of them were discussing how tedious the week had been, "as if we were _unaware_ that we were taking our O.W.L.s this year?" Sirius scoffed.

Marlene snorted, "well, with your attitude in class this week you'd think you were unaware that you were even in a _lesson_," she joked. Marlene and Sirius had established their back and forth banter in third year when they'd both made the Gryffindor Quidditch team. James, of course, had joined the team in his second year.

Ludo Bagman, a seventh year Gryffindor and the Quidditch captain then appeared through the portrait door to the common room, carrying an armful of books on N.E.W.T. level Transfiguration. He spotted the group of fifth years and dumped his books at one of the tables that dotted the common room before coming over to them.

Ludo had an infectious grin; he just took everything so casually. He was hoping to play Quidditch professionally following graduation, and thus he had never let schoolwork stress him out.

They all greeted each other enthusiastically, whilst Alice eyed his pile of books worryingly. She hated to think about how much work they had ahead of them.

"Hey guys, hope your first week has been enjoyable! Man, the professors really need to relax a bit, eh? You'd think N.E.W.T. results were capable of making or breaking your career," he laughed along with the boys (Alice turned a pale green colour).

"So anyway, as you know we didn't lose any players last year. That means we'll be a shoe in for the Quidditch Cup, the other three teams need to find replacements and adjust to their style of play. I've preliminarily booked the Quidditch pitch for Sunday mornings and Tuesday evenings after dinner, so we'll have our first training session this Sunday!"

Ludo winked at his teammates and then scooted off to the table with his books, where he was soon joined by another couple of seventh years.

As James, Sirius and Marlene engaged themselves in a colourful discussion about Quidditch and their competition this year, Peter offered to play a game of exploding snap with Mary.

Peter liked Mary's company; she was sweet, and still managed to get excited about the smallest display of magic. This amused Peter; he had grown up in a wizarding household, and took so much for granted that fascinated Mary.

Just as Peter's eyebrows were singed off by an exploding Jack of Hearts, Remus and Alice entered the common room.

"Professor Waltz has just set an insanely long essay on Ancient Egyption Runes for protection," Remus sighed as he collapsed into an armchair.

"Unlucky," responded Sirius, not sounding at all sympathetic. In fact he was feeling rather smug; they hadn't been set any homework for Divination yesterday.

"Where's Evans?" James asked Alice, who sighed. "She's gone to the library to start researching said runes."

James muttered something about her being an insufferable swot. He'd hardly seen her this week outside of lessons; she was always either in the library or doing prefect duties. He'd only had the chance to ask her out twice.

* * *

Lily sighed heavily as she found herself an isolated table in the library and dropped into one of the chairs. She concluded that she really didn't like the new librarian, Madam Pince. It was as if she didn't want the students in the student library at all and she had been deliberately obtuse when Lily had asked her for reading suggestions for her Ancient Runes essay.

Nonetheless, she had finally found a couple of books that looked pertinent, and she was rather content with the table she had found. She soon found herself immersed in the books, taking notes with great interest.

"Hi Lily," a voice interrupted her study mode. Lily looked up to find Severus lingering on the other side of the table.

"Sev!" she greeted her friend with a smile and gestured to the chair opposite her. He sat down and quickly examined the books she was reading, "Egyptian Runes?"

Lily nodded, "Professor Waltz set two feet of parchment this afternoon for Tuesday's lesson. I figured I'd come here straight away to make the notes I need before the good books go." Severus smiled endearingly at her, only she would think that way in the first week.

"You should have been a Ravenclaw," he suggested.

Lily considered that for a moment and then shrugged thoughtfully.

Severus pressed the point, "if you were in Ravenclaw, you wouldn't have to see James Potter half as often."

Lily took a deep breath, Severus had been her friend for so long, and he was terrified that she would one day abandon him for James Potter of all people. "Sev, you don't need to try to make me hate him, I already do. Now can we please not talk about him?"

Severus scowled, Lily used to find great pleasure out of ranting about Potter with him, but now he sensed that she was growing bored with such talk. This worried him. He felt like he was being forced apart from Lily and he was desperately trying to cling on to her, but there was so little they shared in common these days.

The library was quiet, and Lily realised that dinner would be in full swing now. She started to pack her bag, and asked Severus if he wanted to walk down to dinner together. He hesitated for a second, but agreed, eager for any time with her, no matter the consequences.


	3. Potions and Emotions

Marlene scowled deeply at her Potions textbook, rereading the instructions. She was supposed to be brewing the Draught of Peace, and she had thought she'd followed everything correctly. Yet there was still no sign of a light silver vapour that she saw rising from a few cauldrons now.

She snapped the book shut in frustration. She actually used to be quite fond of Potions, Professor Slughorn was a right character, and he doted upon his favourite students. Marlene just about scraped a position of prestige in his books.

This year, however, the dynamic in potions had changed. In the first four years Gryffindor had either shared their Potions lessons with Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff but this year, they had the misfortunate of learning alongside Slytherin House.

For Marlene, this meant that Mary and Alice, who had always worked together in potions, remained partners, but _Lily_ had deserted her for Snape! Marlene was now stuck sat with Druella Vicci, who kept entirely to herself.

Staring longingly around the dungeon, Marlene watched as James and Sirius whispered between themselves with grins stretched on their faces (both of their cauldrons had a light silver vapour rising) and as Remus laughed lovingly at Peter, throwing something into his potion, probably trying to salvage it for him.

Mary and Alice were working quietly next to each other, they both needed to concentrate to get through potions hence why neither of them had wanted to be partnered with Marlene. She'd only distract them with her musings.

She then turned her gaze yet again to Slughorn's 'wonder students', Lily and Snape. They were beyond a doubt the best at Potions in their year, and Marlene thought it was rather selfish of Lily not to help her out this year. She noticed they seemed in the middle of a conversation, causing Marlene to scowl again, she really did not understand that friendship.

* * *

"I think Potter's got competition for your heart with Slughorn," Severus half joked.

Lily let out a tinkling laugh that carried across the dungeon. Severus smirked with satisfaction when Potter glanced over and scowled at him.

Professor Slughorn had just spent the previous five minutes bestowing praise after praise of Lily's Draught of Peace. "I've no doubt just one sip would have us all relaxing in bliss!" he had exclaimed before clapping his hands together and moving on, noticing that Pettigrew seemed to be having issues, again.

Whilst they waited for the potions to brew before siphoning them into flasks to hand in to Slughorn for grading, Severus and Lily spoke about their prefect patrol schedules. Severus felt his heart lift when Lily expressed disappointment that they hadn't shared a patrol yet.

"Lily, did you want to go to Hogsmeade together this weekend?" Severus asked, trying to keep his voice casual. He didn't know why he was so nervous to ask; Lily had always gone to Hogsmeade with him, even if she would meet up with her Gryffindor friends part way through.

Lily let out a gasp of shock, and then turned to Severus with a grimace on her face. Severus' heart sank.

"Oh, Sev! I'm so sorry, I'd already planned to go with the girls. Marlene's meeting up with Benjy, Benjy Fenwick? And Mary wanted to spend most of the afternoon in the library, so I was going to go in early with them. We could meet up once later in the afternoon though?"

Severus tried not to let the disappointment and hurt show on his face, but failed. Lily looked genuinely apologetic, but he couldn't understand why she hadn't told him sooner, or just rejected the girls. She hung out with them _every _day.

"Is Potter going to be there?"

Any sympathy was immediately wiped off Lily's face. "Don't, Sev," she warned.

Severus winced at his own stupidity; he'd lost count of how many times she'd warned him to stop mentioning Potter to her this year.

Slughorn then announced the end of class, and asked for the potion samples to be labelled and handed in. Lily immediately scooped up her bag and whisked herself off to the front of the classroom to hand in her potion before swiftly exiting the room.

Severus cursed himself, and then morosely began to pack up his bag and potion.

* * *

Sirius nudged James with a sneer, "looks like Snivellus has put his foot in it."

James glanced up, a smile playing across his lips. Remus opened his mouth to warn him against doing anything, then realised any warning would fall on deaf ears. Instead, he slipped out of the classroom without his fellow Marauders.

Peter went to the front of the classroom to hand in his potion, as well as those belonging to his friends, who made a habit of avoiding Slughorn as much as possible.

Snape slipped out of the dungeon and began climbing the stairs towards the great hall for lunch and the three remaining Marauders followed. Just as Snape got to the top of the stairs, James flicked his wand and whispered '_Impedimenta'_ causing Snape to trip up.

Snape's bag skid across the polished floor, as he himself bowled over into a frightened looking second year girl. The entrance hall was crowded, as it always was at the start of lunch, and more than a few people laughed at the boy with the greasy hair.

Sirius clapped James on the shoulder whilst Peter actually clapped, "simple, yet so effective Prongs," Sirius commended, earning a smirk from James.

He felt a pair of eyes on him though and looked towards the great hall, where most of the student body were sitting down to lunch. Just inside the door was Lily Evans, glaring at him with ferocity to rival a Basilisk.

Before he could shout out to her, she turned on her heel and marched down the hall. Sighing, James watched her go.

* * *

Alice pushed her food around the plate, only half listening to Lily's rant about James' latest 'attack' on Snape. She tried to understand why Lily was still friends with Snape. She personally thought he was kind of creepy and with the exception of Lily, his friends were all sly, mean bullies.

Marlene had a theory that Lily was only still friends with Snape because it prevented her from being friends from James. She believed that the only reason Lily hadn't succumbed to James' charm like her other friends was out of loyalty to Snape.

"And please, tell me _why_ he thinks that stupid 'just-played-quidditch-hairstyle' looks _good_?!" Lily cried out, looking expectantly at her three friends in turn.

Alice and Mary shared a glance and made incoherent sounds before ducking their heads down.

Marlene just quirked an eyebrow and grinned, "Because it _does_, Lils," she admonished. "Now please, stop obsessing about him."

Lily sputtered awkwardly but ceased her ranting, and Mary sighed in relief. It grew tiresome to constantly hear about James Potter.

"Allie, you've hardly touched your food," Mary observed with a concerned frown.

Alice leant back in her chair to stretch and then slouched over the table, her delicate features hidden behind a curtain of her thick dark hair.

"I'm just worried about Herbology, the last few lessons haven't been going very well, and I totally bombed last week's essay on carnivorous plants."

"Aw, Allie, it's only Herbology," Marlene started.

"But it's not _just_ Herbology!" Alice moaned, looking thoroughly dejected, "If I don't get an Outstanding grade in it then I can say goodbye to my dreams of becoming an Auror, and then what will I do?"

Lily's heart went out to her, she looked so miserable. She patted her arm softly, "Give it time, I'm sure it will improve" she consoled.

Alice nodded, though she still looked doubtful. She didn't say another word through lunch but she did at least start eating.

* * *

Dinner that night was a rather eventful affair.

Alice was in an even worse mood than at lunch, she'd had double Herbology in Greenhouse three, and a Venomous Tentacula had seized her from behind when she'd been desperately wrestling with a Fanged Geranium. She'd received an essay back too, and received an Acceptable. That lesson had reduced her to tears.

Her eyes, mostly hidden behind her hair in shame, still looked slightly blotchy, and the girls were at a loss as to how to cheer her up and improve her situation.

Mary thought it must be rather nice to know what you want to do with your life and feel so strongly about it. She still had no idea what she wanted to do, and sometimes she envied Alice her conviction, but not on days like these.

The Marauders were sat with the girls at dinner, but there was little interaction. Lily had refused to acknowledge James' presence at all, which mostly set the precedent for the meal.

Marlene, usually the one to bridge the gap between the girls and boys of her year in Gryffindor, was distracted, thinking about her upcoming date with Benjy Fenwick. Sirius hadn't bothered to attempt to talk to her either.

James and Sirius were discussing the finer points of a plan to prank the Slytherin Quidditch changing room in hushed whispers. Peter loudly suggested dungbombs, and Lily's head snapped up to fix them all with a penetrating stare.

"Dungbombs are banned in Hogwarts," she stated in a tense tone.

Sirius and James both groaned and shot withering glances at Peter, who had the decency to look sheepish.

"Lighten up, Evans, you're always so on edge, it can't be healthy," James casually stated with a smirk at Sirius, who snickered.

"I do NOT need to _lighten up_!" she shrieked in response, standing up.

"Sure you do, Evans! _Colovaria_," he muttered whilst twirling his wand.

The effect was instantaneous, Marlene's jaw dropped as she looked up in horror at Lily. Peter looked like he didn't know whether to laugh or cry; Sirius was actually crying with laughter.

Lily's beautifully gleaming red hair had turned to white. She stared at the white curls that fell in front of her shoulders for a moment, before turning to James with a deathly calm tone, "Change. It. Back."

"If you agree to come to Hogsmeade with me this Saturday!" he cheekily proposed with a dashing smile.

Her dinner forgotten about, Lily turned and with her back ram-rod straight, she marched out of the Great Hall.

* * *

Frank Longbottom entered the Hall on Lily's way out, and with a bemused expression he dropped into Lily's now unoccupied seat. "I'm going to have to give you a detention for that, James," he said in an off-hand manner whilst reaching for an apple.

James just grinned at him.

Then Frank noticed that he'd sat himself down beside Alice, "Hey, Alice, are you okay? You look upset, so that was probably a stupid question. I'm sorry…" he started awkwardly.

Alice glanced up at him and blushed slightly, "Oh, um, no, it's alright, thanks for asking... I think I'm going to fail Herbology. I know it's pathetic to get so upset about it, but I always wanted to be Auror…" she trailed off unhappily.

Frank gave her an appraising look and smiled comfortingly, "You know Alice, I'm the top of my year in Herbology, and well, it never hurts to revise O.W.L. level material to keep on top for N.E.W.T.s, you know? I could tutor you if you'd like?"

Alice brushed her hair out of her face and stared up at him, a million and one thoughts rushing through her head at once. _Frank Longbottom had just offered to tutor her!_ Opposite her, Mary and Marlene were grinning like mad hatters. Alice didn't respond for a minute, until Marlene kicked her under the table.

"That would be great, thank you so much!" Alice managed to fight the words out. Frank smiled warmly at her and then excused himself to go and sit with some of his fellow sixth years further down the table.

"Merlin's pantaloons," breathed Alice in wonder. Marlene and Mary each let out little squeals of happiness for their friend, who was clearly in a daze.

"Merlin's _pantaloons_?!" laughed Sirius, "I'll have to remember that one, Al."

"Oh, shove it, Black," Alice joked. She didn't care if they were mocking her – she was too caught up in her own fantasies about private study sessions with _Frank Longbottom_.

James watched Alice forlornly, "It must be nice to have your dreams come true, Al," he mumbled.

Marlene rolled her eyes in exasperation, "For Godric's sake, James! You turned her hair _grey_ today! Yesterday you vanished a stool as she went to sit on it so she fell in a heap! Last week you swapped her wand with a fake one when she had to demonstrate her technique to the whole class in charms, leaving her standing there holding a rubber chicken! You don't for one second think that that's the way to _charm_ a girl?!"

James stared at Marlene, his brain working furiously, "That's it, _Charms_! Thanks Marz, you're a unicorn among horses!"

He jumped up from the bench, excitement written all over her features. "Moony, I'm going to need your assistance."

"What for?" Remus asked.

"You know your way round the library better than myself, Padfoot and Wormtail, come on!"

The four boys exited the Great Hall, leaving Mary and Marlene with a still very ecstatic Alice.

* * *

Lily was absolutely fuming as she marched through the corridors of Hogwarts heading towards the library. She wasn't terribly embarrassed about her hair as no one that she passed showed even a hint of recognition, but she certainly wasn't going to forgive Potter easily.

She found herself searching the Transfiguration section, wondering what incantation she would need to reverse the effect of Potter's spell. She found spells that would change her colour again, but she'd never get it back to her natural colour that way, she needed an exact reversal.

Getting more and more frustrated, she walked into the next aisle and straight into Sturgis Podmore, a sixth year Ravenclaw with an easy smile and charming looks.

"Ooft," she huffed as he let out a small grumble.

"Oh sorry, didn't see you there," Sturgis said absently, not really looking at the grey haired witch before him.

"Ugh," Lily groaned, "no, I'm sorry. I was so caught up in my own frustration that I wasn't paying any attention."

"Lily _Evans_?" was Sturgis' incredulous response. "Merlin, didn't recognise you – what's um, what's with the hair?"

"Potter," she growled, and Sturgis nodded knowingly, "of course."

"Here," he smiled, "_Colovaria finite_." He watched appreciatively as Lily's hair was restored to its natural, beautiful colour.

Lily started to thank him, but he cut her off. "Don't thank me Lily, I did it for my own selfish desire to once again see your glorious hair colour." Lily blushed crimson to match her hair and smiled meekly at him.

"Well, thanks anyway… I should be off, lots of studying to be doing, you know…"

Lily started to walk away, but turned back to see him watching her go, and smiled to herself for the whole walk back to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

James Potter watched this exchange from across the library and his heart sank. He couldn't let Sturgis Podmore work his charm on Lily, he'd dated half the female population at Hogwarts (the more attractive half, James admitted begrudgingly).

With intense fervour, he cradled a book in his arms. The book's title was _Bewitching a Witch: The Charms You Need to Master_.

* * *

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